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On our last vacation, my wife's camera started wigging out. The focus is now atrocious and completly unusable.

There was a 20 minute window between 2 pictures where something happened because every photo taken since that point has been messed up. I've tried a factory reset, different cards, new batters, and am about to take it apart.
Any suggestions? It is a 2.5 year-old Canon A710IS (a great camera otherwise).

You were out on a boat? My guess is you got some moisture in the lens.

SPOOFE wrote:

You were out on a boat? My guess is you got some moisture in the lens.

Yeah, I was out on the boat on that specific picture. I took the camera up with me while I was parasailing and got what would have been great shots, which unfortunately didn't come out due to the messed up camera. Didn't notice the problem until we looked at them on the computer (they didn't look nearly as bad on the camera screen).

That said, pictures from the day before show the same problem, so it's not the boat. Plus, it still has issues 4 days later.

What it looks like to me is that nothing is focused. The autofocus takes a little longer than normal and the little box shows that it selected the area that it was supposed to, but that area isn't actually in focus. The weird part is that the further from the center of the picture, the more out-of-focus it is.

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

What it looks like to me is that nothing is focused. The autofocus takes a little longer than normal and the little box shows that it selected the area that it was supposed to, but that area isn't actually in focus. The weird part is that the further from the center of the picture, the more out-of-focus it is.

To me it looks like the right hand side is almost in focus with the problem getting worse the further left you look.

Do you think it might have got a knock? Perhaps something in the lens has gotten out of alignment maybe

It looks like your left forearm and adjacent seat cushion are fairly well focused, but that probably wasn't the intended focal point. I agree with a previous post that the lens is out of alignment with the focusing motor.

cheesyking wrote:

Do you think it might have got a knock? Perhaps something in the lens has gotten out of alignment maybe

That's what I'm thinking too. And now that I think about it, we did ride a roller coaster at Disney (Big Thunder!) in that 20 minute window where it started getting wonky. I bet it did get knocked. So now to figure out how to rectify that.
Here's a picture taken from 6000 ft (it almost has a tilt-shift effect, which is kinda cool):

Certain seems like a tilt-effect and it means that theres a good chance of that one of the lenses is out of alignment, so it might be a trip to a repair shop is in order.

Aphasia wrote:

Certain seems like a tilt-effect and it means that theres a good chance of that one of the lenses is out of alignment, so it might be a trip to a repair shop is in order.

Would that $$ even be worth it for a camera that can be replaced with a better model for probably $130-$150.

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

Aphasia wrote:

Certain seems like a tilt-effect and it means that theres a good chance of that one of the lenses is out of alignment, so it might be a trip to a repair shop is in order.

Would that $$ even be worth it for a camera that can be replaced with a better model for probably $130-$150.

The problem is, for the amount of "extra" features that the A710 has, today's A's have gone backwards , with jacked-up megapixels (at least they have not grown as fast as the ultracompacts) and almost the complete removal of the manual stuff. The A720 and the A650 are pretty much the last stewards of a once proud, cheap enough, and feature-laden line of slightly larger compact cameras.

Flying Fox wrote:

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

Aphasia wrote:

Certain seems like a tilt-effect and it means that theres a good chance of that one of the lenses is out of alignment, so it might be a trip to a repair shop is in order.

Would that $$ even be worth it for a camera that can be replaced with a better model for probably $130-$150.

The problem is, for the amount of "extra" features that the A710 has, today's A's have gone backwards , with jacked-up megapixels (at least they have not grown as fast as the ultracompacts) and almost the complete removal of the manual stuff. The A720 and the A650 are pretty much the last stewards of a once proud, cheap enough, and feature-laden line of slightly larger compact cameras.

It's for my wife who doesn't need the manual stuff much. I've got my Rebel XTi for when I do want manual. I did sell my 70-200 lens though. Just wasn't using it enough, and the $850 cash came in pretty handy.

Getting a point and shoot repaired is a poor idea if you ask me. You are almost assured of a bill that is higher than the replacement cost of the camera. I would start looking for a replacement if it were me.

Hance wrote:

Getting a point and shoot repaired is a poor idea if you ask me. You are almost assured of a bill that is higher than the replacement cost of the camera. I would start looking for a replacement if it were me.

It's not unheard of to send it in and have them fix it for free. I've heard lens issues are a quick fix for them much of the time.